Volunteer Group – 01/12/11

For the last two days I have been canvassing my 100+ door community.  I walked door to door meeting people I hadn’t met and giving them the lowdown on well, me.  It reminded me of canvassing in LA at moments, mostly the speaking Spanish I get and trying to encourage people to become more involved.  At other moments, when I finally looked up from the rocky road I had my breath taken away by the incredible views in all directions of what look like distant mountains although they would only take an hour to drive to.  Mountains so green you wonder if there could be another way. 

I canvassed up until just a couple hours before my meeting was supposed to start and got to the salon early.  Some of the School Board’s members were there waiting for me and we swept the floors together.  We waited outside as we began to wonder if anyone else would show.  But slowly, everyone came into site down the road each way coming to my meeting.  34 people came.  It was just about what I was expecting but the meeting didn’t turn out as lively as I would have liked. 

I probably talked too much, but it’s a meeting about me and why I’m here right?  Well I asked a bunch of times what they would like to see happen in their community and they just wouldn’t budge.  The already established leaders had a bunch to say but the newcomers to town reunions were pretty quiet.  The funny thing is after the meeting they swarmed.  I had ten people around me trying to arrange an English class less times a week while everyone else was trying to say bye.  And then came the ideas…

My host-dad recommended a youth group to get the kids used to being involved in the community and keep them doing positive things.  Don Mario recommended not just for youth but a volunteer group that meets up regularly to help out neighbors.  They’re both such great ideas, but now I might have taken on too much.  Or most definitely I’m going to have to wait on my pushing for such a group until I have less on my plate. 

I now have two English classes.  One class meets twice a week and the other four times a week- both meeting for 90 minutes.  Next week I’m starting an English play group for some of the kids.  Thankfully the high school group was extremely encouraging and volunteered to help out with the masses of kids I can only imagine might show up.  Four of them walked straight into my house today right up to me without talking to anyone else to ask if they could come to the high school class tonight.  It’s exciting though that so many people are still excited of my being here even weeks after I arrived.  I’m constantly searching for ways to keep that excitement going and turn it towards the community.  At this point I just have to keep working hard and hope for the best.  But I am so happy for those two years working in grassroots – it provides me with so much necessary strength.  “That’s grassroots baby!”